Call to empathise with deaf women

Begumpet: "A mother's love needs no sign language to understand. Similarly, when you have a heart to heart connection with people around you, then even the silence paves way for a conversation." smiles Ramya Miriyala, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Deaf Enabled Foundation.

Hailing from a family of specially gifted parents and an elder sister, Ramya has dedicated herself to empower the deaf community in making a mark for themselves by boosting their morale and providing them with opportunities to hone their skills.

A strong advocate of the rights of deaf women, the entrepreneur shares that she began her journey as an interpreter at the age of 10 to hold fluent conversations with her family. But hardly did she know that one day she would be helping several hundreds of the deaf community in leading normal lives!

" I was moved by the condition of deaf people in the society and wanted to extend my help even the littlest way I could. So, at the age of 17 years I took a professional course in Indian sign language to become a part time interpreter in the same institute." Said the young entrepreneur.

Narrating how a terrible incident involving one of her near ones moved her to voice out the problems of deaf women, Ramya opines that personally or professionally an abled woman is only empowered if she can prove herself in a male dominated society without having to ask for reservations but for a deaf woman, there needs to be a constant support from both the family and the community she dwells in.

" A deaf woman cannot voice out herself in public even if she is harassed and abused by those around her with a fear that she would be mocked at by her higher ups or her own family members.

In fact, one of my friend's wife who was specially gifted by harassed at her workplace and she wanted to resign to her post. Thanks to our timely intervention that we could get the culprit thrown out from the office after sending legal papers to the firm's MD. How many police stations today have interpreters to register cases of deaf women? How many deaf women have ever dared to express their pain publicly? Did anyone think of deaf women in this way? All they get are lip sympathies or false praises but believe me they deserve more than they get" sighs the 31-year-old.

Hence, through the Deaf Enabled Foundation Ramya conducts regular Women Leadership Talks and special celebrations on the occasion of Women's Day to boost self confidence in deaf women. As a part of her services to the community, Ramya also acts interpreter for women victims in cases of physical or verbal abuse to ensure that the deaf women receive their share of justice and live a life of dignity.